Supreme Court Short List? Deep Bench Of Potential Nominees To Succeed Scalia

While the skirmish lines are forming in Congress over President Obama’s nomination of a successor to the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia – the president first will have to make his choice known before the battle can be joined.
Though Obama had not been expecting to make a Supreme Court nomination in the final months of his second term, Scalia’s death triggers a rigorous selection process that begins with an informal list of nominees this administration -- and those before it -- keep in the event of a sudden vacancy. Serious vetting only begins, however, when a vacancy occurs or is announced.
And Obama will have plenty of names from which to choose. While not an official “short list,” the following list of potential nominees is based on past nominations and discussions with sources, including government officials involved in the selections of Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan:
Loretta Lynch, attorney general
The North Carolina native became the nation’s top law enforcement officer last year, after a bitter confirmation fight in the Senate. She served two stints as the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, earning a reputation as a tough prosecutor in several high-profile financial and terrorism-related cases. Most recently in the AG role, she filed a civil rights lawsuit against the Ferguson, Mo., Police Department over what she called its unconstitutional violation of the rights of the largely minority community. If successfully nominated, the daughter of a Baptist minister and a school librarian would be the first African-American woman on the high court.
Judge Patricia Millett, U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit     
Millett was named in 2013 to a bench considered a stepping stone to the high court -- where four current justices once served. Formerly a private Washington-based appellate attorney -- Obama called her "one of the nation's finest"-- who also had more than a decade of experience in the U.S. Solicitor General's office, Millett argued 32 cases before the Supreme Court, the second-most ever for a female lawyer. Sources of both ideological stripes call her fair-minded, no-nonsense and non-ideological.
Judge Sri Srinivasan, U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit   
Srinivasan was named to the court in 2013, months before Millett joined him. The son of Indian immigrants – who was born in India and raised in Kansas -- Padmanabhan Srikanth Srinivasan was the principal deputy solicitor general at the Justice Department, and argued more than two dozen cases before the Supreme Court. He would be the high court's first Asian-American. Known as low-key, practical and non-ideological, he may not excite many progressives, or give conservatives much to dislike.
Judge Paul Watford, 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals
Watford was named to the appeals court in 2012. He clerked for conservative-libertarian federal Judge Alex Kozinski on the 9th Circuit, and later for liberal Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Supporters call the Orange County, Calif., native an ideological moderate, which may not sit well with progressives seeking a stronger liberal voice.